1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus which reads a barcode recorded on an optical disc such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) or a High Definition Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD), and a barcode reading method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical disc apparatus executes reading of a barcode which is recorded on a burst cutting area (BCA) of an optical disc such as a DVD or an HD-DVD (see, e.g. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-328857).
A data reading apparatus disclosed in KOKAI No. 11-328857 comprises a pickup which forms a beam spot on a disc surface by a pickup laser and generates a BCA reproduction signal on the basis of reflected light from the disc surface; an error signal generating unit which generates a focus error signal and a tracking error signal on the basis of a signal from the pickup; and a servo mechanism which controls tracking and focusing on the basis of the error signals.
The data reading apparatus converts the BCA reproduction signal, which is generated from the pickup, to a digital signal, and generates a reproduction pulse. When the reproduction pulse, which has a predetermined pulse width or more, is detected, the data reading apparatus generates a detection pulse, and reproduces BCA data on the basis of the detection pulse.
In the prior-art data reading apparatus, a beam spot is formed on the disc surface by the pickup laser, and the BCA reproduction signal is generated on the basis of the reflected beam. The prior-art document is silent on which position of the BCA is traced, that is, what control is executed for the pickup head when the BCA is read.
In the prior-art data reading apparatus, if a stain, a fingerprint or a flaw is present on a location of the BCA that is to be traced by the pickup laser, an erroneous BCA reproduction signal is generated. For example, if a stain is present on a part which is normally a reflective part, a BCA reproduction signal, which is similar to a signal produced from a non-reflective part, would be generated. As a result, there arises such a problem that erroneous barcode data is read.